The present invention relates to mounting systems for mounting accessories to a vehicle and particularly to one which is adjustable between multiple fixed positions.
Modern vehicles include a variety of convenience features, many of which are electronic and need to be mounted to a vehicle. Such accessories may include radar detectors, cellular telephones or other communication devices. It is desirable in mounting such accessories to have them conveniently located and, in some instances, easily stored out of the way when not in use. A cellular telephone is a typical example of one such accessory and a variety of different telephone mounting systems for cellular telephones are now available. Typically, a cellular telephone will include a cradle for removably receiving a telephone handset, which cradle can be mounted to a vehicle in a variety of manners. In one system, the telephone cradle is mounted to a platform which, in turn, is pivotally and extendably mounted on an arm system for movement from a stored position within a vehicle armrest storage compartment to an extended, conveniently located use position. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/713,140, filed on Sep. 12, 1996, entitled VEHICLE TELEPHONE MOUNTING SYSTEM discloses one such system. The telephone cradle disclosed therein is fixedly mounted to the extendable arm for a particular type of telephone. In order to accommodate a variety of different telephones and to allow their compact storage within the storage compartment of a vehicle armrest when not in use, currently is necessary to provide different cradles or special adapters to allow different phones to be used with the universal telephone storage arm such as disclosed in the above-identified patent application.
Thus, there exists a need for an accessory mount which can accommodate a variety of different devices, such as telephone cradles, to allow their mounting and/or compact storage within a vehicle armrest and subsequent extension for use.